14 road miles south-west of Bournemouth
skylights & rooflights in langton matravers
Since 2019 applications for Langton Matravers houses go to Dorset Council, and the stone-slate roofs strung along the road between Kingston and Swanage are unlike the tiled roofs of the Bournemouth suburbs. We survey the slope, the slates and the rafters before we name a window.
stone, slate and a few bungalows
- Stone cottagesThick walls, small windows, stone-slate roofs.
- Farmhouses and outbuildingsLong stone ranges with deep, dark upper floors.
- Later bungalowsTiled roofs with a loft over a gloomy hall.
- Rear extensionsFlat or low-pitched roofs behind older stone.
the first thing we look up for a Langton address
- planning authority
- Dorset Council
- protected landscape
- Dorset National Landscape
- protected landscape
- Dorset National Landscape
- road miles
- 23.8
By road via Wareham. The Sandbanks chain ferry route is 14 miles.
stone slate, slab and ridge
a village built from the stone under it
The Royal Commission survey of Dorset describes the buildings of this parish as almost all Purbeck stone with stone-slated roofs. That one fact shapes every rooflight job here, from the weight on the rafters to the way a window is flashed into the slope.
Cutting a window into a Purbeck stone-slate slope
The slates are lifted by hand and laid back around the new frame.
Stone slates are thick limestone slabs, not the thin machine-cut tiles found on most houses in Bournemouth. They are laid in diminishing courses, with the largest slabs low down at the eaves and smaller ones towards the ridge, and the whole covering is heavy. The timbers beneath have to carry that weight, so in this village we expect rafters that are sturdy but not always evenly set.
That affects the order of work. A roof window is a roof window whether it goes into slate, tile or stone, yet the flashing kit has to be chosen to match the covering it sits in. Slabs of mixed thickness do not lie flat against a standard flashing, so we measure the build-up of the slope at the survey and tell you which kit suits it. Each maker publishes a pitch range for every model, and we read your actual pitch with an inclinometer before a size is named.
The slates removed for the opening are the same slates that go back round it. A cottage roof in the village may carry newer slabs among the old after centuries of change, and where the colour or thickness changes we note it on the sheet, because it tells us where the original courses run. Old stone slate is not easy to replace, and the courses around a new window look wrong if the new surround is built with different material. For that reason we count and set aside every slab we lift, and we photograph the slope beforehand so the pattern can be matched.
Weather matters too, and the stone is not forgiving of delay. A stone-slate slope is opened in sections, with the frame and flashing in before the next block of slabs goes up, so the roof is closed in at the end of each working day. That approach suits a thick roof covering that cannot be tarped quickly.
Fitting a roof window into stone slate
- Survey the slopeRafter centres, pitch, the thickness of the slate build-up and the position of any purlin are written on the survey sheet. A window is only specified once those readings are in.
- Lift and stack the slatesThe slabs above and around the opening are taken up in order and stacked so they can be laid back in the same sequence.
- Frame the openingWhere a rafter has to be cut, a trimmer is fixed above and below the new opening to carry the load. This is the structural step that needs Building Regulations approval.
- Flash and re-layThe window is set in its frame, the flashing is dressed to the slate profile, and the original slabs are laid back in diminishing courses.
- Finish the liningInside, the reveals are lined and the plaster or board is made good, so the window meets the sloping ceiling cleanly.
Dorset Council, the National Landscape and how to check an address
Langton Matravers lies inside the Dorset National Landscape, and Dorset Council is the planning authority.
The Dorset National Landscape was formerly called the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Langton Matravers sits inside it. Land in a National Landscape is treated as Article 2(3) land, which withdraws some householder rights, dormer windows among them. A Class C rooflight is not withdrawn in the same way, so a rooflight is not ruled out by the landscape designation. Councils can still restrict the right by making an Article 4 direction, and so can a condition written into the house's first permission.
Dorset Council took over planning from the former district councils in 2019, so an application for a house here goes to Dorset Council. Whether any part of the village has a conservation area, and where its boundary falls, is shown on the council's own mapping, and we do not guess it from memory. Listing is a different matter. Where a stone house or barn is on the National Heritage List, the roof is part of what is protected, and putting a rooflight in it nearly always calls for listed building consent first. The list is searchable by address, and the survey includes that search. A listed outbuilding at the bottom of a garden counts as much as the house.
The full permitted development rules are in our planning guide. For a stone cottage the practical question is usually which of three records applies to the house, and the records use terms such as National Landscape, Article 4 direction and listed building consent, each of which has an exact meaning for a stone roof.
Planning and roof terms you will meet in a Purbeck survey
- National Landscape
- The current name for an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It sets extra weight on appearance when a planning application is assessed.
- Article 4 direction
- A local order that takes away a permitted development right, so that a householder needs to apply for permission for something that would otherwise be allowed.
- Listed building consent
- The separate approval needed before a listed building is altered. Roof slopes are included in it.
- Stone slate
- A roofing slab cut from limestone, thick and heavy, laid in courses that shrink from eaves to ridge.
- Trimmer
- A timber fixed between cut rafters to take their load round the edge of an opening.
- Flashing
- The metal surround that seals a roof window into the covering and sends rain over the top of the frame.
Lanes, deliveries and what shapes a job here
Langton Matravers is 23.8 miles from Bournemouth by road via Wareham.
The shortest crossing to this side of Purbeck is the Sandbanks to Studland chain ferry, but a roof job cannot depend on a queue, so we plan the day on the road route via Wareham. Glass and frames arrive by van, and the programme is built around that trip rather than a gamble on the crossing.
Once in the village, the layout matters. Many of the older houses sit close to the road, with narrow frontages and long gardens behind. A scaffold tower on the road side may need a highway licence from Dorset Council, and on a few properties the only sensible place to stand a tower is in the rear garden, carried through the house or round the side. We ask about this at the first call so the survey can note it. Verges and passing places in the lanes around the village are tight for a delivery lorry, and a tower or skip left in the wrong spot can block a neighbour, so the position is agreed before anything arrives.
The cost of a rooflight job in the village is not set by the window alone. The list that follows covers what moves a quote in either direction, using the same headings that appear on our written survey sheet. No prices are shown here because a price only means something once the readings exist.
What moves the cost of a Langton Matravers rooflight job
- Roof coveringStone slate takes longer to lift, stack and re-lay than machine-made tile.
- Number of rafters cutA wider window means more trimming and a larger frame.
- AccessA tower in a garden, or a licence for the road, adds planning time.
- Glass and finishDouble or triple glazing, an opening or fixed unit, and a blind or none.
- Interior liningPlasterwork and decoration to the reveals and the sloping ceiling.
The rooms that stay dim in a thick-walled house
Deep window reveals take light away before it reaches the room.
A stone house with walls the best part of a half-metre thick has deep reveals, so a small window lets in less than its size suggests. The stair, the landing and the bathroom at the back are the rooms that suffer most. In a bungalow built on the edge of the village the problem is the opposite: the walls are thin, but the plan is deep and the hall has no window at all. Bathrooms in the middle of a plan are the same, and many are lit by an extractor fan alone.
A rooflight puts glass in the plane of the roof, where there is no reveal to shade it, and the sky it sees is wide. A roof window in a stone-slate slope of the usual pitch looks up at open sky rather than at a hedge or a neighbour's wall, which is most of why it lights a deep room so well. In a cottage with rooms in the roof, a roof window above the stairs can light the landing and the stair below it. Where there is only a loft over the room, a sun tunnel carries light down through the rafters onto a round diffuser set in the ceiling. A single-storey extension behind a stone cottage takes a flat rooflight, which has to sit on a kerb of its own with a fall for the water.
Where a front slope is visible from the road, the council may ask for a conservation rooflight that sits flush, with slim framing and a central bar. Neighbouring Worth Matravers and Swanage share the same stone and many of the same constraints, so readings taken in one give us a sound idea of what the next will hold. The table pairs each room with the light source that tends to suit it and the check that goes with it.
| Room | Light source | What the survey checks |
|---|---|---|
| Stair and landing | Roof window above | Rafter gap and ceiling slope |
| Back bathroom | Sun tunnel | Loft depth and tube route |
| Bungalow hall | Sun tunnel or roof window | Distance from slope to ceiling |
| Rear extension | Flat rooflight | Kerb height and fall |
| Room in the roof | Roof window | Pitch, knee height, escape size |
faq
questions from Langton households
Does the Dorset National Landscape mean I cannot fit a roof window?
No. The landscape status withdraws some householder rights, but not Class C rooflights in the same way. An Article 4 direction, a planning condition or a listing can still apply, so we check the address and put what we find in writing.
Can a roof window be set into stone slates?
Yes. The flashing kit is chosen to suit the thickness and profile of the slab, and the original slates are lifted, counted and laid back around the frame.
How do you get to Langton Matravers from Bournemouth?
We plan on the road route via Wareham, 23.8 miles. The Sandbanks to Studland chain ferry is shorter when it is running, but a job programme cannot rely on it.
Is there a way to light a landing in a thick-walled cottage without a dormer?
A roof window directly above the stairwell does it. Dormers are one of the rights withdrawn on National Landscape land, which is another reason a rooflight tends to suit these houses.